Company News

This June, British Summer Fruits, the industry body that represents 95% of all the UK’s commercial soft fruit growers, is relaunching and rebranding to become British Berry Growers.

Since 1992, the UK’s crop association for the soft fruit industry has supported UK growers to build a billion-pound industry and the largest within UK horticulture.

British Berry Growers’ ambition is for British seasonal berries to continue to provide 100% of the UK’s needs and for industry exports to be 50% bigger than British sales volumes by 2035.

The new organisation will have four key effort priorities:

• To ensure understanding of the British berry industry’s positive contribution to a sustainable rural economy and the nation’s health, and shape government policy to support British Berry Growers’ mission
• To direct world-leading berry research and development that supports treatment of pest and disease, crop utilisation and drives future efficiencies, including the reduction of the carbon, waste and water footprint of the UK berry industry
• To grow sales for berries by building UK consumer awareness and advocacy, focusing on British berries first and driving overall consumer demand by covering 52 weeks of the year
• To identify and tackle the industry’s key risks to ensure its long-term viability and to provide issues support for UK berry growers

Commenting on the launch of British Berry Growers, chair Nick Marston said: “The launch of British Berry Growers marks an exciting moment for the British berry industry.

“The British berry industry is a true British business success story. Now worth over £1.6 billion year-round, the value of the industry has doubled in just a decade. Our growers sit at the heart of the rural economy and our industry is recognised as a key contributor to UK food self-sufficiency.

“British Berry Growers will champion the tireless work of our berry growers, both big and small, and support them as they adapt to the future challenges of seasonal berry production. We’re here to secure the long-term success of the British berry industry.”

The creation of British Berry Growers brings with it the launch of a new dedicated R&D advisory board. Its purpose will be to enable British Berry Growers to become recognised as one of the best crop associations in the world technically and environmentally.

The evolution of the trade body also sees the appointment of two new non-executive directors to the British Berry Growers organisation. Former MEP Anthea McIntyre CBE joins the organisation to advise and support the organisation on policy matters, while Dr Louise Sutherland brings her years of expertise in agri-tech to scope and set up the newly formed R&D advisory board.

British Berry Growers will continue to fund Love Fresh Berries, the organisation’s all year-round PR and social media campaign to promote strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries and  all berry industry activities.

The Yes Peas campaign, supported by the British Pea industry and British Growers, have released the following competition to celebrate Great British Pea Week 2022.

PEA-K YOUR OWN PEAS: YES PEAS! LAUNCHES COMPETITION TO MARK GREAT BRITISH PEA WEEK 2022

Yes Peas! is giving a limited number of veggie lovers the chance to pick their own peas for the first time ever

Run by the Yes Peas! campaign on behalf of the UK Vining Pea industry and the British Growers Association, Great British Pea Week is an annual event that celebrates a small and mighty vegetable: the pea!

Thanks to optimum soil and climate conditions, peas are grown the length of the Eastern Seaboard, from Essex right up to Dundee. The UK alone is home to 700 pea farms across the UK who produce around 160,000 tonnes of frozen peas each year, most of which travel from field to freezer in around 150 minutes.

Great British Pea Week runs through from 4^th – 10^th July and this year, Yes Peas! is continuing its mission to inspire everyone to cook with peas and is providing lucky pea-lovers with the opportunity to go along to the fields to pick their own, straight from the vine.

Interested pea enthusiasts will be able to register their interest to pick their very own peas straight from the pod by visiting the Yes Peas! website.

Five lucky winners will be chosen at random and will get an exclusive invite to the field for one day and one day only. They will have the chance to pick, pod and pack up as many fresh peas straight from the field as they can lay their hands on to take home, ready to whip up some delicious dishes!

Coral Clark, spokesperson for the Yes Peas! campaign, says: “We’re thrilled to be opening up one of our pea fields exclusively for the first time ever! Great British Pea Week is our annual celebration of the UK’s vining pea industry. We are 90% self sufficient in pea production in the UK, so it’s safe to say they’re one of our favourite vegetables.”

Campaign ambassador and chef, Rachel Green, adds: “We are passionate about using peas to make exciting new meals and dishes, and hope that we can inspire the nation to do just that for Great British Pea Week. It’s not to be missed!”

Competition opens 25^th May 2022. For more information about the campaign, recipe inspiration and to enter, visit our website at www.peas.org.

Please contact Nina Rathore or Ruby Mortimer on 0113 361 3600 / YesPeas@hatchpr.co.uk for further information.

ABOUT YES PEAS!

The highly successful Yes Peas! campaign, run by the British Growers Association and funded by growers, freezers and machinery companies from the vining pea sector, is in its thirteenth year. The campaign aims to promote the versatility, provenance and nutritional benefits of frozen peas and engages with consumers to inspire them to use peas as an ingredient, as well as an accompaniment, to meals. The campaign is supported by hundreds of recipes developed by campaign ambassador and TV chef, Rachel Green, available at www.peas.org.